Honing assembly including abrasive holder



Oct. 1, 1968 c. A. MCDONALD 3,403,481

HONING ASSEMBLY INCLUDING ABRASIVE HOLDER Filed May 12. 1966 1 N VEN TOR. d/are/rce 14. flwma/d ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,403,481 HONING ASSEMBLY INCLUDING ABRASIVE HOLDER Clarence A. McDonald, Richmond, Ind., assignor to National Automatic Tool Company, Inc., a corporation of Indiana Filed May 12, 1966, Ser. No. 549,621 6 Claims. (Cl. 51-204) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A honing assembly including an abrasive holder for use in a slot of a honing tool. The holder has a honing stone supported therein and is so constructed that a retaining flange of novel character resiliently retains the holder in the slot of the honing tool, both initially when the parts are new, and subsequently for a comparatively long service life as the slot in the honing tool and the holder become worn. The holder wears away as the honing stone becomes worn and until it is almost completely worn away.

This invention relates to honing tools and particularly to an abrasive holder of new and improved character for retaining the honing stones in assembled relationship to a honing tool body.

The herein disclosed abrasive holder is particularly adapted for use in small size honing tools in which space is limited and where garter springs or other bulky means may not be feasibly utilized for retaining the honing stones and their holders in assembled relation to the honing tool. The abrasive holder is in some respects similar to that shown in Calvert Patent No. 2,790,277 but has the improvement of a resilient blade to frictionally engage in the slot of the honing tool body. Abrasive action occurs as between the sides of the honing stone and the adjacent side walls of the slot in the honing tool body in which the honing stone is mounted together with its abrasive holder, and this abrasive action enlarges the slot. Accordingly, when a rotating honing tool is withdrawn from a work piece, centrifugal force may throw the honing stones out of their respective slots.

One object of the present invention is to provide a honing tool having an improved means for retaining the honing stones in assembled relationship with the honing tool body despite enlargement of the slots of the honing tool body.

Another object is to provide a honing assembly having an abrasive holder which is inexpensive to manufacture and does not require medication of the honing tool body or its slots, which is convenient to use and which is sturdy in construction and results in improved efiiciency and accuracy of the honing operation.

More particularly, an object of the invention is to provide an abrasive holder which has a resilient retaining blade effective to retain itself and the stone carried thereby in a new slot of appropriate width, and to likewise retain itself and a honing stone therein even when the holder itself and the slot are worn to a considerable degree.

A further object is to provide the resilient retaining blade so designed that it remains effective even when the stone has been worn down so that practically none of it is left, thereby effecting economies in the replacement of worn stones.

Still a further object is to provide an abrasive holder which has a pocket to receive a honing stone to be secured therein as by cementing or the like, the abrasive holder covering the back face of the stone and exposing the front face thereof, the resilient retaining blade being located in front of the front face of the hone and spaced "ice therefrom, and being at a slight angle which makes the normal overall width of the abrasive holder greater than the slot into which it is inserted, thereby placing the retaining blade under tension against that side of the slot in the honing tool holder which is opposite the back face of the honing stone.

An additional object is to make the resilient retaining blade of such width that there is still some of its width left when the honing stone is completely worn away, the abrasive holder thereby functioning in its retaining capacity until the abrasive holder and what is left of the honing stone are discarded.

With these and other objects in view, my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my honing assembly, whereby the objects above contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims and illustrated in detail on the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an enlarged side elevation of a honing tool such as shown in the above-mentioned Calvert patent, a portion thereof being broken away and other portions shown in section to illustrate details, and shows two of my honing assemblies associated therewith;

FIG. 2 is a further enlarged perspective view of the abrasive holder of my honing assembly;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view thereof on the line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view through the honing tool and shows the abrasive holders and honing stones associated therewith as taken on the line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view on the line 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to a portion of FIG. 4 showing my abrasive holder and the honing stone supporlted thereby being inserted into a slot of the honing FIG. 7 is a similar sectional view showing the holder and stone fully inserted and ready for use; and

FIG. 8 is a similar sectional view showing the stone nearly worn away and ready to be discarded.

On the accompanying drawing I have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate the tubular body of a honing tool having slots 12 adapted to receive my abrasive holders A and honing stones 14 carried thereby.

My abrasive holder A comprises a bottom wall 16, end Walls 18 and 20, and a back wall 22. Lands 24, 26, 28 and 30 are provided extending upwardly from the bottom wall 16 to support the honing stone 14 which is cemented or glued to the lands 24, 26, 28 and 30, and the back wall 22.

Opposite the back wall 22 I provide a resilient retaining flange 32 which, it will be noted, has its lower edge the distance D shown in FIG. 5 below the lands 24, 26, 28 and 30 for a purpose which will hereinafter appear. The retaining flange 32 is an integral part of the abrasive holder A which is a wearable and preferably nonabrasive substance. It may be formed of suitable metal if desired but preferably of a suitable plastic such as one of the acrylic types.

As shown in FIG. 6, the resilient retaining flange 32 is spaced from the front face (left hand face) of the honing stone 14 and is at an angle to the vertical so that as the abrasive holder A is inserted through the slot 12 and into a slot 34 of a hone adjusting element 36, it will move freely until about half inserted as in FIG. 6 and after that when it is fully inserted as in FIG. 7, the flange 32 will be bent toward the honing stone and thus placed under tension to frictionally hold the abrasive holder A in the slots 12 and 34. The hone adjusting element 36 is longitudinally movable in the body 10 of the honing tool in the usual way and has a wedge surface 38 (see FIG. 1)

cooperable with the lower surface of the bottom wall 16 of the abrasive holder A. Accordingly, the effective size of the honing surface (outer surfaces of the stones 14) may be adjusted for size and to compensate for wear by sliding the element 36 downwardly to increase the effective diameter of the bottoms of the walls 16 as Shown in FIG. 8.

As the honing stones are worn down, the retaining flanges 32 will continue to perform their function even when the stones are worn down to almost nothing as shown in FIG. 8, and this is due to the distance D, herein before referred to, representing the remaining width of the flange 32 after the stone is completely worn away. Also, it will be noted that the ends of the resilient retaining flanges 32 terminate short of the end walls 18 and 20 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) and extend all the way down to the lowermost limit of the dimension D. Thus, there is no interference with the spring-blade action of the flange 32 from the time the abrasive holder and a new honing stone is inserted into body of the honing tool until such time as the stone is completely worn away and the holder then discarded.

While I have described my invention as an abrasive holder A, it is also useful as a guide in one or more slots 34 of the honing tool. The abrasive is merely omitted and the retaining flange functions as a means to frictionally hold such a guide in the slot of the tool.

From the foregoing specification it will be obvious that I have provided a honing assembly having an abrasive holder or guide which is effective to resiliently and frictionally engage in the slot of a honing tool throughout the useful life of the holder and its honing stone, or the holder alone when used merely as a guide. Being made of a non-abrasive material, the holder wears away readily along with the honing stone and thus does not interfere at any time with the honing action. When used as a guide, the device also wears away at a satisfactory rate.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts of my honing assembly without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may reasonably be included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. A honing assembly comprising an abrasive holder for a honing tool which has a slot to receive the holder, said holder comprising a holder body having a bottom wall, a back wall, end walls and a front wall, said front wall comprising a resilient retaining flange, means for supporting a honing stone on said bottom wall between said end walls and against said back wall, a honing stone so supported, said retaining flange extending upwardly from said bottom wall and being spaced from the front of said honing stone and having its ends free of said end walls.

2. A honing assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said retaining flange has a marginal portion adjacent said bottom wall located below the bottom of said honing stone, whereby upon complete wearing away of said honing stone, said marginal portion remains to provide its resilient retaining flange effect in the slot of the honing tool.

3. A honing assembly in accordance with claim I, wherein said bottom wall has a plurality of spaced projections upwardly therefrom, terminating in lands to support said honing stone.

4. A honing assembly in accordance with claim 3, wherein said flange has a marginal portion adjacent said bottom wall located below the stone supporting surfaces of said lands whereby upon complete wearing away of said honing stone, said marginal portion remains to provide its resilient retaining flange effect in the slot of the honing tool, said marginal portion being spaced from the forward edges of said lands.

5. A honing assembly comprising an abrasive holder for a honing tool which has a slot to receive the holder, said holder comprising a holder body for a honing stone, means for supporting a honing stone in said body, a honing stone so supported, said body having a resilient retaining flange along one side thereof anchored at its base only to said body at a point spaced downwardly from the bottom of said honing stone and sloping outwardly from said base.

6. A honing assembly comprising an abrasive holder for a honing tool which has a slot to receive said holder, said holder comprising a body having a bottom wall, a back wall, end walls and a front wall, said front wall comprising a resilient retaining flange which extends upwardly from said bottom wall and has its ends free of said end walls and slopes outwardly from said base to provide a holder width greater at the upward extent of the flange than at the bottom wall which provides a resilient retaining effect.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,097,480 11/1937 Visser 312242 X 2,652,838 9/1953 Wolfe 206- X 2,952,952 9/1960 Stanhope 51204 2,991,597 7/1961 Calvert 51204 3,016,660 1/1962 Gross 51-204 X 3,037,333 6/1962 Stelmachowski 51-204 X 3,123,945 3/1964- Engle 51338 LESTER M. SWINGLE, Primary Examiner.

D. G. KELLY, Assistant Examiner. 

